Do you avoid the sun? Why do you? Is it to protect yourself from cancer? Prevent premature aging and live longer? If you answered yes to any of these, the following information will open your eyes. Yes, open your eyes to the other side of the sun story that does not get told by the media.
This information has the power to change the lives of more than 600,000 people worldwide every year. This information has the power to save the life of you and your family.
New research has been published, which demonstrates the importance of getting regular sun exposure and how not getting sun exposure can increase you risk of the very reasons you have been avoiding the sun. Researchers from the Moore's Cancer Center at the University of California, San Diego, found that areas with low vitamin D3 levels had a higher risk of colorectal and breast cancers. They determined that proper sun exposure could save close to 600,000 cases of breast and colorectal cancers. In addition to preventing breast and colorectal cancers, the researchers concluded that increasing vitamin D3 levels could prevent diseases that claim close to 1 million lives each year.
Common sense tells us that the sun is the giver of all life and our bodies have relied on it since the beginning of time. But the expert keep telling us that sun exposure will lead to skin cancer, premature aging of the skin and cataracts. How could this be? What should a person do? Reading this article is the first step to making an informed decision. Many health myths have been spread in today's media driven society. Eventually these myth become a self evident belief and people react with skepticism to any contradiction to the belief. Please use the mind that God gave you and make the informed choice. You and your family's lives depend on it.
Let's start with some common sense. Nobody is recommending that you go out and get burned to increase you vitamin D3 levels. But the common myth that all you need is a few minutes on your face and hands, is not enough. You need a large portion of your body to be exposed to the sun. This means shirt off and shorts, if you are fair skinned you need to start slow in the beginning of the spring and build up a base tan. Yes a tan is healthy, this is how nature regulates you vitamin D level. Back before sun screens, people had to use common sense such as wear a hat, use an umbrella, minimize exposure until you develop a tan. We did this because a sun burn was a valuable teacher until we got so smart that we developed sunscreen to prevent burning. Now we can stay in the sun all day and not develop a protective tan.
A little known fact is that most of today's sunscreens protect us from UVB primarily and to a lesser extent UVA but the label states UVB SPF of 15 or 30 or 50. Sunscreens do not state the UVA protection and do not even list UVC. The UVB rays are the ones that help you develop a tan, they are the least penetrating rays. UVA and UVC rays penetrate deeper into the skin and can cause more damage. So when you put on sunscreen on and stay out in the sun with no fear of burning and think you are doing the responsible thing, you are causing more damage than if you got under the umbrella. Furthermore, you are preventing the body from doing its job 1) making vitamin D and 2) developing a protective tan. You need to know that the melanin in your skin is capable of protecting you from UVB, UVA, UVC and probably some we have not yet discovered.
So use common sense when going into the sun; wear a hat,start slow and build up a tan. By getting exposure to your whole body you develop some protection when you do go out. You must purposefully make effort to get out in the early spring and take your shirt off when cutting the lawn, or other outdoor activities. Do not overdo it. Remember UV exposure beyond the minimal dose needed to get a slight reddening of the skin is all you need,any more than that will not produce any more vitamin D3 and repeated burning will cause skin damage.
So you may think that I never use sunscreen right? Wrong, I use it, but for the right reasons. I love to surf and as you may guess, setting out on the water on your board exposes you to intense sun rays and I do not like getting burned. But I use 6 block then 4 block and then gradually nothing if I can. Sunscreen has a use and I am thankful to have it. Some are better than others with less toxic chemicals but that is another article. When I do wear sunscreen I am aware that it is not protecting me from cancer and that I have made a choice to stay in the sun longer than my skin is ready for. That is an informed choice.
References
1. Nutrition Reviews, Volume 65, Supplement 1, August 2007, pp. 91-95(5)
2. Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology, Volume 2 Issue 2 Page 86-98, April 2003
3. Preventive Medicine February 4, 2007
4. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 85(6):1586-91 June 2007
5. Wilkinson, Robert J. Influence of vitamin D deficiency and vitamin D receptor
polymorphisms on tuberculosis among Gujarati Asians in west London: a case-control
study. The Lancet 355: No. 9204, p618. 19 Feb 2000.
6. Nursyam EW, Amin Z, Rumende CM. The effect of vitamin D as supplementary
7. http://www.mercola.com
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